For those of you who track calories, one stumbling block is often foods like this that don’t have a label to scan – the solution? I use a cheap food scale that I picked up from Walmart for less than $15 – For a chicken, or other similar food, just throw the plate on the scale, zero it out, put the food on, and weigh it before and after (if you’re eating directly off the chicken and leaving bones, for instance). For today’s lunch, the chicken started at 17.8oz, and ended at 6.8oz, so I ate 11oz.

*Usually when I tell folks I eat sardines, the first reaction is “ewwww”. Sardines are small fish, usually packaged in olive oil in a can. They’re a nutritional powerhouse, and yes, they taste like fish…but isn’t that the point? Comedian Jim Gaffigan has a bit about this…”Oh, I like fish, as long as it’s battered, fried, and covered in lemon and parmesan.” To which he replies, “I don’t think you like fish!”

Workout: Easy 3-miler on the treadmill is just what I needed after yesterday’s ride on the pain-train!

Dinner: 12 oz of chicken breast with creamed spinach (mixture of cream cheese parmesan, and spinach – easy, delicious, and balances the protein in the chicken out with some fat), and cauliflower breadsticks.

*I burned a little over 1800 calories during today’s 2:30 workout, so while I won’t replace all of those calories, there’s a good likelihood I’ll be having second supper. I’ve got a batch of Tolbert’s Red Chili on the stove that will need taste-testing later…

Second Supper: Bowl of Tolbert’s Chili with Daisy sour cream and 1/4 cup sharp cheddar. My boss (greatest boss in the world, for the record) introduced me to this during a business trip in TX, and it’s fantastic. No beans, just meat, peppers, and spices. I make it a little different (use beef broth instead of the suet), but the linked recipe is a good start.

Fat: 46g
Protein: 59g
Carb: 6g
Cal: 648

Daily net calories: 1151, 23g net carbs, 63% fat (I have a hard time netting out much more than this on big workout days, but since I’m burning mostly fat, it shouldn’t be a big deal

*yeah – huge lunch! I’ve found that the keto diet gives me some ‘elasticity’ in when I eat, and running lower net daily calories on big workout days, typically over the weekend, end up catching up to me later on, so pigging out a bit, and eating half the egg bake works for me.

Workout: 3 easy miles on the treadmill

Dinner: Keto Lasagna – so good! Had some good friends over for supper, so also smoked a pork loin, so I had some of that, too. Lasagna with a side of pork – #winning

Yep, I ate cake. Having been in ketosis for an extended period of time, one should not be afraid to indulge from time to time. And in the south, when someone asks if you want cake, especially after a funeral, there’s only one appropriate answer. In times like this, eat the cake. Don’t be a weirdo.

Dinner: 1/2lb bunless burger with bacon and cheese, small Caesar salad, courtesy of the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston Jamaica

Fat: 74g
Protein: 48g
Carb: 5g
Cal: 876

Daily net calories: 1412, 20g net carbs, 60% fat

Predictably, I’m having some degree of difficulty hitting 70% fat ‘on the road’. Tomorrow I may see if I can get a couple tablespoons of olive oil, or maybe an avocado to bump up the fat intake. Eating low carb is pretty straight forward, but eating high fat can take some planning.

Breakfast: Keto-friendly waffles (no link to this one just yet – still perfecting the recipe! They weren’t bad, but a little dry and needs some more sweetness), sugar free syrup, 3 sausage patties, and 1.5oz of blueberries

There we have it, the three week journal is done, complete with unexpected life events and work travel. I’m still learning, and I missed the mark a few times, from a ketogenic purist’s standpoint, but this is all about evolving, learning, and improving one day at a time. Thanks for reading!